today is **PIE** day

( I was never good at mathing... I'm a little better at calendaring -- so I DO know that today is not March 14^th )

Fortunately I was able to get to my mom's to use her mighty Cuisinart for the pie crusts.
While I was there she loaded me with pecans from my dad's trees.

(Just look at the difference between his & Costco's!)

I also figured since she'd been baking her way to Daddy's heart for some 60 years now; I'd nab her secret family recipe for his favorite pecan pie.

...turns out the secret recipe belongs to the Betty Crocker family! posted from Bloggeroid

The Madness Which Comes Before Midnight

(you can't tell he had it wadded up in his pack all day, right...)

The #MidnightMadness tradition at GCU gets bigger & better & wilder & crazier every year.

(These tickets were a precious commodity --
many were turned away at the door!)

(They start planning the event more than a year ahead!) Last year was our family's first glimpse of the impressive spectacle.

My drummer's costume from a year ago was mostly thrift-store items with a little sewing/crafting added on. This year, however, we decided to complicate things by only having a children's-sized costume pattern! We'll get to that after the videos:
This is GCU's take on the whole evening. (Can you tell why they call it MADNESS?) There's a split-second glimpse of the drumline's show at about :31. I don't think my pirate got in the frame...


And this is our view from the other side of the arena. What fun!

But before all the fun, there was much hard labor in assembling the drummer's costume:

(Duncan is an excellent snoopervisor...)

Drafting an enlarged vest wasn't near as difficult at getting those boot covers big enough to disguise size 14 marching shoes!

I found these tools to be invaluable when sewing vinyl!

I used upholstery thread in the needle because I knew tugging these on & off would put a lot of tension on the stitches.

I saved a little time by using the embroidery machine set-up to stitch all 17!!! buttonholes. I covered the buttons with yellow fabric and then brushed them with gold metallic craft paints.

The welted pockets are not something I'm going to try again anywhere in the near future!!!

The sash was split in sections & stitched to wide Velcro® so it was quicker to don than winding/unwinding yards of fabric. I used my Silhouette® to cut the gold antelope logos. The belt I made from some leather yardage. I was going to embellish a large buckle with the 'Lope's logo, but since the drummer was wearing his drum all night, it would've been a waste of time...

The grey pants came from a thrift shop and got 2 cans of paint sprayed into stripes.

It was my plan to find stage make-up gold pirate teeth & to fill the drummer's fingers with rings. I got an emphatic "no" on the teeth & a "Mom, you know I won't be able to perform stick tricks with that junk on my hands, right?" I did talk him in to wearing a plastic gold (touched up with a little of my metalic paints) pirate earring.

What I was not expecting was his vision of a handful of shrunken skulls attached to a rubber knife. The skulls would have the logos from GCU's seven division rivals.

We found the plastic skulls at Michael's. A little bit of tan and cream paints gave a nice weathered touch...

I used glow-in-the-dark paint for the eye sockets. Originally I printed the logos on Silhouette® sticker paper, but they didn't stick!

We ended up using computer paper & tacky glue 'cause we were running out of time.

#vinylallthethings

I've been such a "cut-up" lately...

I had been wanting to make a giant canvas for a long time. A little re-decorating of the front room plant shelf was my impetus.

This is Psalm 100 on a 24" x 36" canvas from the HobLob.

My friends are relocating their antique shop to downtown Glendale and asked me to make a few signs.

front shop window

I usually spend way more time designing than the cutter takes to cut the vinyl! 

And then my friend found stashed (& forgotten) stocking-stuffers from 2 years ago. I tried a little stretch vinyl on them. 

I also made the hubs a shirt he'd been asking for since the one he special ordered at a shop (who knew tall men need longer t-shirts?!?) has started to wear.

I've also got a few more projects in the planning/designing stage...

Versunkener Apfelkuchen gluten-free

Because it's been a few years since I'd made an apfel kuchen for my German-loving sons, I thought perhaps something like that would be the perfect recipe to highlight September's #ImprovCookingChallenge ingredients APPLES & HONEY. (The Improv Cooking Challenge is a once-a-month blogger recipe challenge lead by Nichole from Cookaholic Wife. You are welcome to join us for the monthly linky party...)

While googling honey + apfelkuchen I came across "sunken apple and honey cake" by Smitten Kitchen. I thought it looked beautiful and would be easy to adapt to an almond flour recipe to keep it gluten free.

The cake tasted wonderful, according to two of my four taste-testers. (One didn't like the honey flavor and the other dislikes anything that has the "eggy taste")

I thought it perfect for breakfast or brunch!

An InLinkz Link-up

~ June Celebrations ~

June was jam-packed, as usual...

From the time of my MIL's birthday on the 2nd until my birthday 3 weeks later, we kept busy crafting & baking & celebrating. (3 birthdays, 2 anniversaries & Father's Day...)

(from a shirt for my mom's 58th anniversary)

(lil' somethin' for my man to carry around -- I ordered it here)

(we might or might not've eaten our way across town during our anniversary weekend...)

(a raggy banner I made for the headboard)

(fudgy cookies for my chocolate-addicted f.i.l's b-day... ☺)

(don't mind these -- they were just gf tart cherry bittersweet chocolate chip...)

My sis made a big party @ her house to celebrated Father's Day + my birthday.

The very best part of my birthday was having all my fellas together at the same table!